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KEY CHARACTERISTICS
There were 2,522 deaths from Intentional self-harm (suicide, (X60-X84, Y87.0)) in 2013, resulting in a ranking as the 14th leading cause of all deaths. About three-quarters (74.7%) of people who died by suicide were male, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for males. Deaths due to suicide occurred at a rate of 10.9 per 100,000 population in 2013.

Annotation(s): (a) Includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to suicide. See Explanatory Notes 87-93. (b) All causes of death data from 2006 onward are subject to a revisions process - once data for a reference year are 'final', they are no longer revised. Affected data in this table are: 2006-2011 (final), 2012 (revised) and 2013 (preliminary). See Explanatory Notes 52-54 and Technical Notes, Causes of Death Revisions, 2006 in Causes of Death, Australia, 2010 (cat. 3303.0) and Causes of Death Revisions, 2011 and 2012 in this publication.

Suicide as proportion of total deaths
While suicide accounts for a relatively small proportion (1.7%) of all deaths in Australia, it accounts for a greater proportion of deaths from all causes within specific age groups (see graph below). For example, in 2013, over a quarter of deaths of males in the 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 year age groups were due to suicide (34.8%, 31.0% and 27.0%, respectively). Similarly for females, suicide deaths comprise a higher proportion of total deaths in younger age groups compared with older age groups (26.1% of deaths of 15-19 year olds and 26.3% of deaths of 20-24 year olds).

Footnote(s): (a) Includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to suicide. See Explanatory Notes 87-93. (b) Causes of death data for 2013 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Explanatory Notes 52-54 and Technical Notes, Causes of Death Revisions 2006, in Causes of Death, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 3303.0) and Causes of Death Revisions 2011 and 2012 in this publication.